2023-09-29 20:34:50
During its 61st annual assembly, which is being held in the city of San Juan, the Association of Argentine Journalistic Entities (Adepa) issued its semiannual Press Freedom Report, titled “Without freedom of expression there is no democracy,” in which it celebrated uninterrupted democratic continuity for four decades, and in which he highlighted that “defending freedom of expression and the validity of an autonomous press is defending the very basis of the democratic and republican system.”
“Next December, Argentina will celebrate 40 years of uninterrupted democracy and the values that our founders gave to Adepa are more valid than ever. Democracy and the free exercise of journalism are sides of the same coin. “You cannot think of one without the other,” said Martín Etchevers, president of the Adepa Press Freedom Commission.
The report was unanimously approved by media representatives across the country.
Adepa highlighted in its report – which includes an annex with the most serious cases of the semester regarding regulatory risks, attacks and threats – that in recent years, the role of journalism was very important in distinguishing what is true from what is false in a strongly digital ecosystem. mediated by algorithms and social networks, in addition to being contaminated by tides of disinformation unleashed or promoted during the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine or the electoral processes carried out in several countries around the world.
“The so-called bubbles of meaning and extreme polarization were byproducts of these phenomena, of which platforms and networks constituted a necessary vehicle,” Adepa warned.
Adepa presented its management report at the beginning of the deliberations of the entity’s 61st General Assembly.
40 years of democracy
In the year of the fortieth anniversary of the return to democracy in Argentina, the entity reflected on the role that the press had in that period.
“Journalism is embodied by specific organizations and individuals who dare to challenge authoritarianism, who shine lights on what they want to hide, who question what some spread as dogma and who seek to explain what seems unintelligible,” Adepa summarized, and then highlight a series of milestones linked to democracy and the press.
There he reviewed the figure of Magdalena Ruiz Guiñazú, as a member of the Conadep established by the government of President Raúl Alfonsín, the work of the photographer José Luis Cabezas, which ended up costing him his life; the endless journalistic guards in Catamarca that turned the case of María Soledad Morales into a hinge against impunity; until the recent coverage in Chaco that made the crime of Cecilia Strzyzowski visible.
Adepa also referred to the series of chronicles that illustrated to the public how the Argentine government had illegally sold weapons to Ecuador and Croatia; or how bribes had been paid to approve a law in the Senate of the Nation. And to other milestones, such as the work of a photojournalist, key to demonstrating the police murder of Kosteki and Santillán; the journalistic revelation of the systematic scheme of bribes that businessmen paid to officials to obtain benefits in the awarding of public works; or the denunciation of the existence of a VIP vaccination center in the midst of the pandemic.
“The anniversary of our democracy coincides with a new electoral process, in which unfortunately disqualifications and insults to the press by some candidates have reappeared. However, once again journalistic work is more relevant than ever so that citizens can exercise their right to choose freely and with information in hand,” Adepa stated in her report.
And he added a call to the candidates: “Those who decide to run for elective positions know that, when aspiring to exercise a public function, they must submit to a higher level of scrutiny and that no actor in civic life is exempt from criticism, although – as Adepa has said – these may seem harsh and even unfair.”
It is for all these reasons that Adepa reiterated that the role of the press is intrinsically linked to democracy, due to its function as a social audit tool, as an instrument for contrasting public discourse and as a forum for expressing the different opinions of citizens.
“The press is a cornerstone in the Republican system of checks and balances. Therefore, it is healthy, both for the democratic exercise and for citizen debate, that the representatives of the different political forces deeply understand the function of journalism,” the report stated.
And he concluded: “It is not about asking them for complacent speeches or demagogic attitudes towards the media. Nor to escape the rigorous and intense crossing of ideas and opinions. Less of pretending that what is expressed in the media cannot be confronted with opposition of facts and exercise of reason. But it is about sincerely believing in the function of journalism within the constitutional order, and therefore strictly respecting it. To recognize that what is needed and applauded when one is on the plain, or when one wants to reach society with a message, must also be accepted when the press challenges, questions or displeases,” Adepa stated.
Tribute to Sarmiento
The Adepa Assembly takes place this year in San Juan. The opening took place on Wednesday night, with an event at Domingo Faustino Sarmiento’s birthplace. There, the president of Adepa, Daniel Dessein, together with the director of the Huarpe newspaper, Diego Fuentes, discovered a plaque tribute to the Argentine hero born in San Juan.
This Friday it is expected to know the integration of the new Adepa Executive Council for the 2023/2024 period.
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